The Car Thread

[Number45]

Thanks. Thought it was a Lambo, but my expertise with cars that I can't afford doesn't go so far as being able to name model names/numbers - I prefer not to torture myself!

Not sure how much I'll get out of the drive tomorrow. Only taking it from Basingstoke to Winchester, which means I can either take the motorway (Which will allow me to do nothing with it) or the A30... and I'll probably gut stuck behind a convoy of tractors!

I'm sure it'll tell me enough and by roughly this time tomorrow I will have signed on the dotted line! Just need to work out if I need to get any options added or not - was going to go for the LED running lights but I'm not sure how good they'd look without Bi-Xenons (Which is a much costlier option) and I'm also not sure I want the extra future expenditure that 19" wheels will bring! D:

[ChrisF]

My take on Xenons.... I've had them before, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get them again. I didn't really notice any great benefits, especially for the price. Sure, they look nicer on your car, but generally you're sat inside the car when you have the lights on, so you're not going to get much personal benefit

Oh, and if the running lights / non-xenon lights combo is anything to go by on Audis, then they look naff (imho of course).

[Alastair]

Handling may not be as good on 19's either. I tend to stick to standard wheels. As you say, the cost of bigger tyres is noticeable too.

Take the back roads on your test, just overtake anything that gets in your way, with 250bhp it shouldn't be too hard Take loads of random roads just because you can in fact. What car have you got at the moment?

I wouldn't bother with LED DRL's, but then I'm not a fan of them at all. The only car I've seen that they look good on is an Audi R8.

[charlesr]

LEDs look naff and will be a massive pita when one of them dies (looking even more poo).

19" tyres will smash your pocket. How about some 17"? They will be a lot lighter too, so give you better grip in bumpy corners. 19" will give you nice grip on really flat corners, but how many of them exist in the UK?

[Number45]

I like the idea of the LEDs but would like to see them in person. They're only a £150 option though so worth considering. The car comes with 18" wheels as standard and the alloys are quite nice - I'm hoping the car is as close to standard spec as possible so that I can make an informed decision based on that and maybe tweak a little.

I think I'm going to go for the better speaker set though, if only to satisfy my daughters in the car!

These are the LEDs: :/



And if you select white + the middle wheel option here you'll see the combo I'm looking at (No red calipers though). Although I must say I'm tempted by the black now...

EDIT: Closer view of the LEDs. Hmm, maybe not. :/

[smouty]

Speaking of Lambos - I saw one yesterday with an unusual matt finish similar to this

LINK to pic

Is this the fashion in supercars? Apparently is a $28k option

[Number45]

You mean this:



Also, I have a Red Clio 197 at the moment. Seems I'm turning into a bit of an RenaultSport fanboy.

EDIT: ... and now I quite like the Oyster Grey. >_<

[Alastair]

I don't like the 19's at all Mr 45. In fact, without seeing them in the flesh I'd be going for the first option wheels. And the car should be YELLOW!

I had a sit (not a drive) in a red 197 the other week, thought that the seats and steering wheel were great, thought the dash and centre console were a bit cheap/plasticy though.

EDIT - the magane seats look EPIC, hope they're not an option and I hope you are getting them if they are:

[Number45]

One of the reasons I was going to move away from Renault this time is because I don't like the quality feel of the interior - I sat in the bog standard Megane Coup? (That the 250 is based on) last week and it's a massive improvement so that was what swung me back around.

And I have to say I'm starting to quite like the yellow... and the look on my daughters face if I turn up in one would really be something! We'll see tomorrow.

The Recaro's are optional on all models. You can add them by themselves for ?960 or with the Cup Chassis as well for ~?1900 on top of the ?24,000 already for the standard 250. So I'll have the standard seats (Which are leather and heated) which look like:



... although if I were to go for the yellow it would make more sense to add the 'yellow' option for ?100:





Finally, the Satin Black wheels can't be added to the standard 250 as an option which is a real shame. When I started looking I was actually planning on getting the Clio RS 200 in white with the black wheels (This was before I realised just how similar the new car is to my current one).

[Alastair]

Do it in yellow. I think that 960 would be well spent on those seats

[charlesr]

Don't like all this Matte black vinyl wrap rubbish. I like the shine!

How much are the speaker option? Would you be better off going to a specialist?

[Yakumo]

Friend's brother just bought this. I've decided not to like him any more.

I wish I was that well off. Then again I wouldn't want that living in the UK. Some twat is bound to key it or destroy in in some other way.

[Number45]

Do it in yellow. I think that 960 would be well spent on those seats

The yellow has been vetoed! And I agree about the seats, but I do have to remember that this is ultimately a family car and make some necessary adjustments.

How much are the speaker option? Would you be better off going to a specialist?

It's only a few hundred quid. I'm going to find out more about what it gives today over the standard option, but I'm not the sort of person who likes to force other people to listen to my music so I won't be going overboard.

[NW2013]

Not keen on those DRLs, I wouldn't bother with them.

[abigsmurf]

Hmm, got a problem with my car air vents always putting out hot air no matter what the setting. Looks like the valve for the heater is stuck. Apparently replacing it is a real pain in a Skoda Fabia, requires taking off the dashboard.

Can't afford a mechanic at the moment &#172;&#172;